Device for rotating rounds



Sept. 24, 1946. I s. c. 'HURLEY, JR 2,

5 DEVCE FOR'ROTATING ROUNDS Filed Oct. 2, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet l P/vor Pam/7' 5' INVENTOR. 634M051. GI /0121.5); Je. 31 W 1232mm Sept; 24, 1946. s. c. HURLEY, JR 2,403,170

DEVICE FOR ROTATING ROUNDS Filed on. 2, 1944 Z SheetS-"Sheec 2 INVENTOR. SAMUEL 63 190/24 we.

4r TOIQ/VE rs Patented Sept. 24, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Samuel C. Hurley, Jr., Danville, Ill. 7 Application October 2, 1944, Serial No. 556,811

This application is a continuation in part of my; copending application 545,360, filed July 17, 19 4.

This invention relates to a device for feeding, rotating, and monitoring articles in a unit operation device and is particularly useful for the scanning of rounds by rotating the round ina photoelectric inspection zone. The amount of rotation depends on the type of inspection desired and may vary from a number of complete revolutions of the round to a fraction of a revolution of the round during the time the round is in the inspection zone.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a novel apparatus for spinning the rounds in an inspection zone and for maintaining only one round at a time in the inspection zone and for removing the round inspected and placing the next round in inspection position.

Another object of my invention isto provide an apparatus particularly useful in photoelectrically scanning a round at a given point. The particular method and apparatus. for obtaining the photoelectric inspection is fully described in my copending application 545,360. Thus, the photoelectric inspection may be accomplished by spinning the round against a stop or block; and by suitable arrangement of a light beam anda light sensitive device, the circumference of a round may be scanned. Some of the specific inspections for which my apparatus is particularly useful are the following:

Diameter. Length. Bevel. Curvature. Alignment. Parallelism. Internal round surfaces for eccentricity and concentricity.

8. External surface of rounds for eccentricity and concentricity. I

9. Irregularities in surface such as flat spots, depressions, ridges. etc. Y

10. To determine the location, shape, and'size of different parts of segments such. as slots, grooves, scratches, threads. 7

11. To determine whether apiece is'true, e. g. whether th end of a cylinder is at right angles with the longitudinal dimension.

12. Angle.

13. Major diameter, pitch diameter, angle, lead, etc., of threads. By a round, I

JGHUITPOOPH mean any object which has any.

bearing surface which is round and by way of 3 Claims. (01. 214-1) l eirample, the following are given to indicate the various kinds of rounds that may be inspected by my device:

10. Truncated cylinders 1. Pins 2. Tubes and cones 3. Rivets 11. Barrel shaped 4. Tops 12- Paraboloids -5. Bullet shaped 13. Cylinders 6. Spools 14. Spheres .7. Hour glass shapes 15. Screws 8.'Cones 16. Threads 9. Ellipsoids 17. Bolts The previous photoelectric inspection methods for determining shapes and'dimensions', etc.,

of a round do not involve scanning the round by rotating it at an inspection point and therefore inaccuracies in the' inspection are unavoidable.

, By my method, the circumferenceof a roundmay be inspected and therefore I have provided an improved, accurate, and speedy method for'inspection of rounds.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved monitoring means and means for rotating a round in the inspection zone, particularly for inspecting small round objects of less than a quarter of an inch in diameter. While it is comparatively easy to inspect large objects, it has been found difficult to provide a suitable apparatus for inspecting small objects, particularly smallrounds having flanges, bevels, etc. By my device, I have overcome these difficulties.

Another advantage .of my invention is in the means that I provide for maintaining the round against the stop during the rotation. Itis obvious that if the roundis not rotated solidly against the stop, it may chatter or bounce against the stop and cause inaccuracies in the inspection. I prevent this by providing the proper angleon the rotating means as willbe hereinafter. fully described.

Broadly, my invention comprises means for continuously feeding a round to an inspection zone, a monitoring means for maintaining only one round at a time in th inspection zone, and means for rotating the round while it is in the inspection zone. I

More specifically, my invention comprises in combination an assembly comprising a rotation means including a rotatable shaft and a roller attached to said shaft, a feedway associated therewith, a first camming means attached to said shaft to periodically raise the rotation means to permit the round to be ejected from theinspection zone, a monitoring means associated with said feedway to maintain only one round at a a time in the inspection zone and to release the next round to the inspection zone after the inspection of the previous round is finished and the monitoring means actuated 'by a second cam on the rotatable shaft synchronized with the first cam.

Other embodiments, advantages, objects, uses, and applications of my invention will become apparent'by referring to the drawings in which Fig. 1 shows an elevation of the entire assembly; Fig. 2 shows a plan view of the assembly; Fig. 3

is a cross-section along lines 33 of Fig. .1 illusa.

trating the function of the monitoring device;

Fig. 4 is a cross-section along the lines 44 of" Fig. 1 illustrating the function of the camming means for periodically raising the rotation means.

In Fig. l, I have illustrated rounds in an inspection position which are shaped like rivets, although the apparatus may be used for any shape rounds within. the scope of my invention. The inspection roller I which is mounted or attached to the enlarged part 2 of.s1eeve 31is rotated by means of the driving shaft 6 journaled in endplate 2-2 which is pivotally attached at pivot pointsqTheother end of the shaft at point 6 is positioned in opening I of the end plate 8.

The roller i may comprise or be surfaced with a friction means such as rubber in order to prevent slippage between the roller and the round.

I have illustrated as a disengaging means between the round and the roller, a pivoted rotation means raised by a camat the opposite end; the cam could be located near the center with the rotation means slidably attached in a slot at each end, however.

Aieedway 9, shown as a feeding tube although any, other suitable feeding means may be used, isprovided to feedthe rounds into the inspection position. The rounds may bev fed to the inspection zone through the tube by mechanical means such as fluid pressure. However, it is preferable, although not essentiaLto incline. the. entire assembiy at an'angle of. about 45 in a direction from point t to point 1.- and the rounds fed along the 'feedway by gravity.

'..A round; is is shownin the inspection position underneaththe roller i and in the. positioning means .i i which may. be a conventional V-block. Theround id is. rotated against the stop or block [2 in V-block ii. in order to orient the. round in the photoelectricinspection zone. during the scanning operation. Inorder to insure. that the round issolid'ly rotated against the. stop {2-, the roller his angledslightly as. illustrated and. with this direction .of angle, the direction of rotation, .is in the direction of the arrow $31. If the direction of rotation is reversed, theangleof the roller is reversed. In other words, the roller is angled such as to force the round against. the stop .12.

I have also found that with this direction of rotationof the angled roller that if I angle the rotating shaft 4 from the normal center line in a transverse plane to the elevation in a direction away from: the angle of rotation in the manner shown in Fig. 2 illustrated by numeral M, the round is pressed against the stop and will not chatter or bounce during rotation. The angle M may not; be very large and usually an angle of less than; 1 will be sufficient.

' :At the end of. the inspection, it is necessary to raise the roller I from the round ii) in order to remove the round H) from the inspection zone. After the roller is raised, the particular manner of removing the round. H) from the inspection zone is not material to my invention but may be removed by an air blast controlled by a solenoid valve and correlated with the photoelectric inspection. To accomplish this, I provide a cam 15 which acts against a roller bearing l6 as the shaft 4 rotates. In the drawing of Fig. 1, the cam is shown in such a position that the roller is contacting the round lil by gravity. As the rotation continues, the upper end of the cam [5 contacts theroller hearing it, raising the roller l, permitting the round It! to be ejected from the inspection zone. This is more clearly shown in Fig. 4 in which the direction of rotation of the cam i5 isshown by the arrow.

In this type of unit inspection, it is necessary that only one. round at a time be maintained in the inspection zone and to provide means for feeding the rounds one at a time to the inspection zone; Furthermore, it is important to prevent the next round to be fed to the inspection zone from entering the inspection zone until the round undergoinginspection has been discharged by the air blast. Referring to Fig. 1, the next round l'i', in. the inspection zone is maintained in that position until the round is is discharged by the monitoring or trapping device it; The trapping arm. l9 blocks the feedway and is, held in blocking or. trapping position by means of the spring 28. The monitoring device l3 is pivoted on bearing 28. The. functioning of the monitoring device is best shown by referring to Fig. 3. A second cam 2|. attached to the shaft 3, acts against the arm 23 best shown in Fig. 1 and raises the trapping end 19, thus unblocking the feedway 9 and permitting the round [1, which. hadbeen previously blocked, to enter the inspection zone- The cam Ed is rotated cloclnwise in the direction shown by thev arrow in Fig. 3. During most of one compiete revolutionv of the. shaft d, the blocking arm iii. isin position, to trap the round i7. The synchronization between cam, 7 and cam 21 with the inspection operation is as follows: Near the end of the inspection, the cam 15 acts against. the needle bearing is and raises theshaft 4 about the pivot 5,, disengaging the roller from the round 10,. permitting the round IE to be discharged. lhis occurs just before the cam 2| acts gainstthe arm..23 which raises the trap l9. As the cam 2i continues its rotation, it thrusts against, the bearing 23 raising the trap i9 and permits the. next round. #1 to enter the inspection zone; but almost immediatelmthe trap Hi again comes down in position trapping the next round E8 in the feedway 9. The cam 15. continuing its rotation then lowers the inspection roller l onto the round I! in order to inspect the round H. In other words, the timing to prevent the round I! from entering the inspection zone before round it! is discharged, thereby preventing round H from being discharged along with round IE3, is as follows:

1. Cam l5 raises the roller l permitting the round in inspection position to be discharged.

2.. After the round in. inspection position has been discharged, the cam. 2i. raises the blocking arm l9, permitting the. next round to enter the inspection zone.

3. The cam 2| disengages itself. from the hearing 2.3, permitting the spring 26 to cause the trapping arm I 9- to block the feedway 9.

4. The cam l5 disengages itself from the bearing 1 6, permitting the roller to contact the-round in the inspection zone. Thus, by providing suitable camming means and proper synchronization, Iamable toaccomplish the objects of my invention.

In order to provide, a means for adjusting the distance between the V-block l l and the roller l in order to accommodate different sized rounds and also to adjust the round H1 in the proper inspection position, I'provide an adjusting cam 24 mounted in the opening 25 in the plate 21 and arranged and adapted to actuateagainst the plate 25 in such a manner that the V-block may be raised and lowered.

In another embodiment of my invention, the shaft 4 instead of rotating-may be a journal bearing within which a rotatable shaft 4' turns. In this case, the cam 21 does not rotate but is attached to the journal bearing 4 and moves up and down thus actuating the monitoring device l8.

The above description of the illustrations is not intended to limit my invention, which is only limited by the following claims:

I claim as my invention:

1. An apparatus of the class ing in combination a rotatable shaft arranged and adapted to be raised and lowered, a roller attached thereto, a feed way associated therewith, a first cam attached to said shaft and adapted and arranged for periodically raising the roller, a movable trap associated with said feed way, a second cam on said shaft adapted and arranged for actuatingthe movable trap and said second cam synchronized with said first cam to release said trap while the roller is raised.

2. An apparatus for rotating rounds comprising in combination a rotatable shaft arranged and adapted to be raised and lowered, a roller attached thereto, a feed-way associated theredescribed compris- I with for containing a plurality of the rounds and for feeding the rounds for rotation byrthe roller, a positioning means associated with said feed way and said rotation means for positioning the round during rotation attached to said shaft and adapted and arranged for periodically raising the roller, a movable trap associated with said feed-way for feeding one round at a time for'rotation by the roller, a second cam on the shaft adapted and arranged to actuate the'movable trap and said second cam synchronized with said first cam to release the trap while the roller is raised due to actuation by the first cam thereby releasing one round at a time for rotation by the roller.

3. An apparatus for rotating rounds comprising in combination a rotatable shaft arranged and adapted to be raised and lowered, a roller attached thereto, 'a feed way associatedtherewith for feeding the rounds, at V-block associated with said feed way and said rotation means for positioning the round during rotation by the roller, means for adjusting the distance between the V-block and said rotation means, a first cam attached to said shaft and adapted and arranged for periodically'raising the roller, a movable trap associated with said feed way for feeding one round at a time for rotation by the roller, a second cam on the shaft adapted and arranged to actuate the movable trap and said second cam synchronizedwith said first cam to release the trap while the roller is raised due to actuation by the first cam thereby feeding a round for rotation by the roller.

SAMUEL C. HURLEY, JR.

by the roller, a first cam 

